TRAVEL
Peninsular shore
Scotland’s most distinctive headland may have been tainted by its musical associations, but don’t let that put you off, says Rachael Street.
I was on a cold. clear. sunny day
in early January that I finally
understood what Paul McCartney had been talking about. There was no 'mist rolling in from the sea‘. ‘no tears in the rain‘. but as we stood looking down on the Mull of Kintyre. I could completely tmderstand why Macca had yearned ‘always to be here‘. The drive up there had been a nerve-wracking experience. careering along a single track road littered with potholes and suicidal sheep. bttt it was wholly worth the effort. Maybe it was the sunlight streaming down through the clouds and onto a metallic sea. or the fact that. out of tourist season. the heather covered peaks were deserted. but there was something about coming to this remote tip of Scotland and looking across to Ireland on the horizon that gave me goose bumps.
From the tiny car park. it is a steep descent on foot to the water‘s edge and the stark white lighthouse on the cliffs. Wisely. the council has decided not to allow vehicles any further down the hairpin bends and rightly so. or it would surely only add to the Mull’s reputation as an accident blackspot. The area is notorious for unpredictable bad weather. causing numerous plane crashes. the remnants of which — the information post cheerily reminds us — can still be found amongst the heather. The most famous of these is the I994 tragedy
in which an RAF (‘hinook came down killing 25 MIS. army and Rl'C intelligence officers. A stone memorial sits overlooking the sea. its brass plaque winking in the midday sunlight.
The drive back takes us through the unesciting town of Southend. where a walk along the sandy beach to investigate an interesting looking hillock at the far end is all that is required. It is little more than a grassy knoll in whose shelter sits two eccentric looking houses. one a pretty converted church. but it
LOOKING ACROSS TO IRELAND ON THE HORIZON GAVE ME GOOSEBUMPS
affords lovely views over to the isle of Sanda. From here it is a half hour drive back to the hamlet of Saddell. where we have made our home for
the week in one of a cluster of
Landmark Trust properties. Shore Cottage. as you might imagine. is perched right near the edge of the bay with views directly out to sea and to the Isle of Arran beyond. There is no pub or shop in the village but the beach is amply stocked with driftwood for fires.
shells for collecting and stones for throwing into the roaring waves. It is the kind of place to come for a hit of peace and qttiet. which is possibly what attracted .\lr McCartney to the area. as it is reputed that he made the first recording of Mull of Kintyre on the beach at Saddell.
Of course. the sentimental gushing of a former Beatle is not Kintyre‘s only claim to fame. (apart from looking on the map like a giant male member. of L‘Ulll‘sc‘l. There are fabulous places to walk. a great surfing beach at Machrihanish where we spot two golden eagles. deliciotts scallops bought two hours after landing in the fishmongers in (‘ampbeltown. and. of course. whisky. The Springbank distillery is a fascinating place to visit. whether you're a lover of the golden stuff or not. So whatever you go to Kintyre for. don't miss out on visiting its stunning highlight.
Iandmarktrust.org.uk
FACTFILE
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Shore Cottage (above), where Rachael stayed. looks out onto a sandy beach and views of Arran
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